At the End of the Road
by The Inspired Quill
Summary: Who knows what we'll find at the end of the road? Drabbles.
1. Chapter 1

**At the End of the Road**

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1. Luke & Beckendorf : so we meet again

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The sky is an endless spread of untainted azure, without a cloud in sight. Rows upon rows of elegant, well-constructed houses (Annabeth would love this place, he thinks wryly) border the wide, stone path the son of Hermes is strolling along, and their large, unblemished glass windows sparkle in the midday sunlight.

Elysium is beautiful, but this is not the destination Luke has in mind. Where is the River Lethe?

He spots the back of a tall man nearby, slowly ambling forwards as if deep in thought. His back is to Luke. He jogs up, deciding to ask for directions.

"Excuse me, sir," he begins to say, but trails off when the man turns around and stares Luke in the eyes.

"Luke Castellan?" he rumbles. His deep voice carries a hint of surprise, but is otherwise emotionless.

"Beckendorf!" Luke exclaims in recognition. But the spark of surprise quickly fades away, and his gaze drops to the ground. "Uh, listen..."

He knows what he wants to say. He knows what he should say. But for some reason—perhaps his pride—he can't get the words to form. Everything comes back to him in a rush—the Princess Andromeda, Percy and Beckendorf's infiltration, the greek fire that threatened his plans, the final confrontation, Percy's anguished and desperate escape... and the explosion that took Beckendorf's life.

"I was watching, you know," the son of Hephaestus says softly, interrupting his thoughts.

Luke jerks his head up, thinking Beckendorf is talking about the ship.

"It seems like you did the right thing in the end. Made the right choice. Became a hero. I still don't like what you did before, and what you did to Silena, but—"

Luke desperately wants to say something, but he's speechless. How does one respond to that?

"—but I forgive you. You had a change of heart in the end. You saved Western civilization. You saved... all of them." Beckendorf's usual hard expression softens, and he gives Luke a friendly nod—or at least as close to friendly as he can, given how they had last parted ways.

"I should go," he tells Luke, turning around and walking away. "Silena's waiting for me."

Just before he's out of sight, he pauses and turns to face Luke one last time. "By the way, the River Lethe's over there." He points a thick finger at a faintly glimmering stretch of water in the distance before he rounds the corner and is out of sight.

Luke is still standing there, frozen, but suddenly, he realizes he has yet to say anything.

It's too late though. Elysium is not his destination and if he doesn't know if he can face the son of Hephaestus again, after causing his death.

But he whispers the words anyway.

"I'm sorry, Beckendorf."

And he, too, walks away.

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**A/N:** This is my first Percy Jackson and the Olympics fic, and I'd really appreciate feedback or concrit. Thanks and see you next drabble!


	2. Chapter 2

**At the End of the Road **

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2. Luke & Silena : then this is goodbye

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He hears footsteps behind him—almost matching his own, but not quite. Luke turns around.

"Hi," Silena Beauregard says simply. Her eyes are bright and sparkling with life, and her face is flawless and perfect like it always used to be. She looks nothing like the Aphrodite girl who died pretending to be Clarisse, who died leading the entire Ares cabin into battle against a drakon.

She's beautiful, Luke thinks.

"I wanted to talk to you. Charlie told me he saw you earlier."

Luke doesn't know what to say. He knows what he should say, of course. After all he has done this life—to her and everyone else—an apology is definitely needed. But even though he does regret some of the sins he's committed, he still isn't quite ready to apologize to those he hurt face-to-face.

"I wanted to tell you that… in the end, we weren't so different," Silena whispers suddenly, breaking out of his thoughts. "Traitors, turned heroes." She gives a small, sad smile.

"But—" Luke starts to say.

The daughter of Aphrodite shakes her head mutely, silencing him. "This is the end for us, Luke. You're going to the River Lethe; you're going to be reborn. I'm staying here."

She glances over her shoulder anxiously, as if worried someone is watching.

"If we had more time, perhaps..." Silena trails off. "So this is it, then. Goodbye, Luke. I hope you live your second life the way you want to."

With that, she walks away, head bowed.

Luke stares at her for a few moments before he breaks into a run. "Silena, wait!" he calls desperately. There is so much he has to say; he can't allow her to go so soon.

But the traitor-turned-hero daughter of Aphrodite is gone and Luke knows he can spend days searching for her and still not find her.

He slows and glances one more time into the heart of Elysium. This time, he does not have to say anything.

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**A/N:** This one's a companion to the first drabble. Feedback and concrit is appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

**At the End of the Road**

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3. Luke & the entire Hermes cabin : missing.

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"It wasn't us," Travis and Conner Stoll protested in unison.

Luke refused to budge. "You're the most likely ones to steal someone's stuff," he pointed out, standing over them with his arms crossed.

"Dude," Travis said, "this is the Hermes cabin. Any one of us could have stolen your—what is it that's missing, again?"

"My last clean T-shirt," Luke grumbled. He had been on his way to the showers after a sparring session in the arena before realizing his t-shirt was missing. Now he was hot, sweaty, and desperate for a shower—except he couldn't find his last clean t-shirt.

Conner wrinkled his nose. "Besides, why would we need your clothing? There are plenty of better ones in the camp store that we could steal—I mean, buy."

Luke sighed in defeat. He turned away and spotted two young Hermes campers pointing at him and giggling to each other. "What?" he snapped irritably.

"Nothing," giggled Miranda.

Lucy, the other girl, looked as if she was trying hard not to break into full-out laughter.

Looking around the crowded cabin, Luke noticed that most of the kids also wore similar expressions. Joe was smirking, Kelly looked away with a smile on her face when Luke's gaze landed briefly on her, and Grace wore a I-know-something-you-don't look.

"What?" he asked again, this time exasperatedly.

Finally, Lucy took pity on him. "Look out your window," she choked out through her laughter.

Luke picked his way through the mess of clothing littering the floor of the cabin and peered out the window on the far side.

There, outside on the grass and lit by the sun's golden rays, stood eight-year-old Annabeth. A fond, wistful expression graced her young face as she clutched Luke's last clean t-shirt like a teddy bear.

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**A/N:** This one takes place a little after Luke and Annabeth arrive at Camp Half-Blood. Thanks for reading, and feedback and concrit are appreciated!


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